Cigarette vending machine



Oct. 30, 1934. s, MCCULLQUGH 1,979,043

CIGARETTE VENDING MACHINE Filed Sept. 13. 1930 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Inueni'or:

Jael S. JTFCuZZoug/Q,

Oct. 30, 1934. J. S. MGCULLOUGH CIGARETTE VENDING MACHINE Filed Sept CuZZough,

lnueni'or J el MM;

I 1x a. afi N n A n 3 P u 2 g M A 3 In 2 Oct. 30, 1934.

J s. MCCULLOUGH CIGARETTE VENDING MACHINE Filed Sept. 13, 1930 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 O E y- 1 I l 1| wu ourlltl L I...

117114.41!!! IIAVAIIIII III GLASS PANEL Inuenflor:

Oct. 30, 1934. J MCCULLOUGH 1,979,043

CIGARETTE VENDING MACHINE Filed Sept. 13, 1930 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Inveni'or:

Jhel S.JITPC'uZZo u 9h,

Patented Oct. 30, 1934 UNITED STATES CIGARETTE VENDING MACHINE Joel S. McCullough, Chattanooga,

to McMiba Corporation,

Tenn, assignor Chattanooga, Tenn., a

corporation of Tennessee Application September 13, 1930, Serial No. 481,778

7 Claims.

The invention concerns a machine for delivering cigarettes individually from an original package bearing the government seal, the machine being adapted to receive the said package bodily and to dispense the cigarettes say one at a time therefrom. One object of the invention is to provide means whereby the proper delivery of the cigarettes is insured, said means preventing the cigarettes from hanging in the hopper and causing them to assume proper relation parallel to. each other in the hopper for accurate registration with the delivery mechanism.

Other objects of the invention will be clear from the following description and the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings Figure l is a front view partlybroken away.

' Fig. 2 is a 'side elevation of the machine with the outer casing in section and the back member 20. remaining in place.

bar'is ready to move rearwardly and carry the coin and the lug 23 with the cigarette carrier along with it; in Fig. 20 that the slide bar has gripped the coin between its lug 22 and the lug 23 of the carrier; and Fig. 2d shows the coin having arrived at the end of or the opening in the base or frame plate is being ejected downwardly by'the pressure of the lug of the slide bar on the coin at a point above its center.

Fig. 3 is a plan of oneof the removable units.

Fig. 4 is a sectional View from front to rear of one of the units on line 4-4 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 5 is a plan view of the cigarette carriage andassociated parts with the side walls of the unit or compartments in dot and dash lines.

Fig. 6 is a detail view of the coin operating slide.

Fig. 7 is a side View from the view point opposite that from which Fig. 2 is taken with the outer casein section.

Fig. 8 is a detail of the nism.

9 is a view of one of the cigarette packages'bearing the government stamp and adapted to be inserted in the machine.

5 In these drawings the package bearing the internal revenue seal is indicated at 1. This is adapted to hold one hundred cigarettes and is of such form and size as will fit in the compartment of the apparatus adjacent the hopper which is formed by the sides "2 of the unit or compartdrawer locking mechament and the inclined bottom walls 3. These bottom walls extend across the compartment from one side 2 to the other and they converge downwardly and are spaced apart at their lower ends. Beneath this hopper there is a slidable carrier indicated generally at f consisting of a plate preferably of sheet metal having d0wnturned edges 5 which rest upon the bottom plate 6 forming a part of the main fixed frame of the apparatus and serving as a guide for the carrier. The carrier is of an extent to reach from one side 2 to the other to be guided therebetween. The upper face of the carrier moves in a horizontal plane at the lower ends of the inclined walls 3 of the hopper. The carrier is provided with a slot '7 of a width adapted to receive one cigarette and said slot extends from one side edge of the carrier to the other being thus of a length to receive the cigarette.

The lower ends of the inclined walls 3 of the hopper are provided with recesses or notches 8 and protruding through these slightly are rollers 9, there being two of these at the bottom of each inclined wall. These rollers are of rubber or rubber covered and they are carried on their rafts 10 journalled in arms 11 of a frame 12 which frame is pivoted between the side walls 2 of the compartment or unit. These rollers rest upon the upper surface of the cigarette carrier and as the carrier moves back and forth the rollers are turned by the frictional contact with the upper surface of the carrier. The plate 6 forming part of the main fixed frame of the apparatus is provided with an opening or slot located in rear of the normal position of the slot '7 of the carrier. The slot 13 is of a length and width to permit the free passage of a cigarette which upon passing therethrough falls upon a deflector plate 14 forming part of the fixed frame and inclining downwardly and forwardly to deliver the cigarettes to the front of the machine, the said deflector plate having a flange 15 along its front edge extending upwardly to hold the discharged cigarettes in proper position to be grasped by the customer. For this purpose the flange 15 is provided with finger openings 16 disposed about centrally in respect to the compartments or units of which there may be three or more arranged side by side on the main frame. The drawings illustrate three of these units for convenience of illustration.

When the carrier 4 is moved from its normal position at the front of the machine rearwardly it will carry the cigarette which is lodged in its slot 7 towards the rear and when this arrives in registry with the slot 13 in the fixed frame plate 6 the cigarette will drop through the slot 13 onto the inclining deflector plate and will thus be deposited at the front of the machine within convenient reach of the purchaser.

The rollers 9 rest by gravity upon the upper surface of the carrier plate and the weight of the pivoted. frames 11 in which the rollers are journalled provide strong enough frictional contact between these rollers and the plate to insure the revolution of the rollers from the movement of the carrier plate. The revolution of the rollers serves to cause proper lining up of the cigarettes within the hopper so that they will feed parallel with the slot '7 in the carrier plate and will insure the feeding of a cigarette into said slot for its delivery on each complete movement or cycle of movements of the carrier plate. As the carrier moves rearwardly the forwardly disposed rollers will rotate anti-clockwise and this is true also of the rearwardly disposed rollers. This will cause the rollers disposed at theforward wall of the hopper to tend to lift the cigarettes in contact therewith which movement will be imparted to other cigarettes of the pile or stack whereas at the rear wall of the hopper the rollers will have a tendency to force the cigarette or cigarettes in contact therewith downwardly and thus insure the lodgment of a cigarette in the receiving slot '7. The action of these rollers is to cause movement rotary and otherwise, of the cigarettes in relation to each other so that if any cigarette is out of line or tends to hang in the hopper the action of the rollers will cause a proper alignment of this I cigarette so that its axis will be parallel with other properly disposed cigarettes in the hopper and if a cigarette tends to hang in the hopper the movement derived from the rotation of the rollers V will be such that this cigarette will be dislodged and will assume proper feeding position as a part of the stack. The rearward movement of the carrier plate is such that the slot '7 which transports the cigarette along the upper surface of the fixed frameplate 6 will carry this slot '7 with its entrapped cigarette beneath the rear set of rollers in the hopper and to a point in rear of a vertical plane passing through the axes of these rollers. The effect of this will be that when the cigarette arrives in the position to be discharged from the slot 7 through the slot 13 onto the defiector plate the rollers will bear on this cigarette and serve to force it downwardly through the slots 7 and 13 and insure its discharge onto the deflector plate, it being noted that these rollers have a downward movement into the slot 7, this movement being caused by gravity as soon as the slot 7 properly registers with these pressure rollers. This arrangement is particularly desirable in the case of a misshapen cigarette arriving at the point of discharge. If the cigarette is of a shape other than cylindrical or, in other words, if it is materially flattened it may have a tendency to stick in the slot '7, but with my arrangement of rollers above described this objection will be overcome because the rollers act as means for positively forcing the cigarette from the slot 7 and through the slot 13 onto the discharge plate or deflector. It will thus be seen that the rollers perform the function of effecting a proper arrangement of the cigarettes relative to each other within the hopper for their proper lodgment one by one into the slot 7 of the carrier and in respect to the rear set of rollers these perform not only the function of properly aligning cigarettes in respect to each other and preventing hanging of the cigarettes within the hopper, but also these rollers serve to insure the discharge of the cigarettes one by one through the slots 7 and 13. The frame 12 in which the rollers are journalled may be more or less loosely pivoted to the side walls of the unit or compartment.

-For operating the sliding carrier, coin-controlled mechanism is employed, consisting of a slide bar 17 guided by flanges 18 on the outer side of one of the side walls 2 of the compartment, and also by a channeled shape guide portion 19 of the plate 6. This slide bar is normally held in its forward position by a spring 20 attached to one of the walls 2 and to a stud 21 on the slide bar. The said slide bar on its inner side is provided witha lug or shoulder 22 which is tapered or pointed at its rear end. This shoulder or tapered lug, when the slide bar is in its forward position, is spaced apart from a projection or lug 23 secured to the side of the sliding carrier 4, said lug being square at its front end. Into the space between the lugs 22 and 23 a penny or other coin is adapted to be deposited by means of a coin chute 24 mounted on the outer side of one of the side walls 2 of the compartment. This space, indicated at 25, is defined by the side wall 2 also by the bottom of guide 19 of the plate 6 and by the said lugs 22 and 23 so that a penny or the proper coin having been fed to this space through the coin chute will rest on edge upon the bottom of guide 19 of the frame plate 6 and between the lugs 22 .and 23, the space being of such length as to freely accommodate the coin and leave excess space between said lugs. The coin having been fed into position, the operation rearwardly of the finger slide bar 17 will cause the coin lying between the lugs 22 and 23 to impart the movement of the slide bar through these lugs to the carrier plate 4 so that said carrier plate will be moved to the rear sufficiently far to perform its intended operation of carrying a cigarette from the hopper and causing it to discharge as above described through the slot 13. vAny suitable full stroke mechanism may be employed such as the detent 26 cooperating with teeth 2'7 on the slide bar, the said detent being pivoted to one of the walls 2 of the unit and being controlled by av helical spring 28, the upper end of which is secured to one of the side plates 2. It will be observed that the lugs 22 and 23 are out of line horizontally so that if no coin is introduced into the space 25 between these lugs, full stroke movement of the slide bar to the rear will be without effect in moving the carrier 4 because the coin must be present to act as a lock between these parts and without the coin the lug 22 will simply move back and forth over the lug 23 without contacting therewith and thus the carrier 4 will not be operated at all. The pointing of the lug 22 is to effect a proper contact upon the edge of the coin standing on edge or upright between these'lugs and also to prevent through any disarrangement of the parts such contact between the lugs 22 and 23 as would cause the movement of the carrier plate when no coin is present and the slide bar is manipulated. The full stroke detent insures the requirement that the slide bar having been started in either direction must complete its full stroke in that direction. In the rearward movement of the slide bar 1'7 the coin will be carried along over the surface of the bottom of guide 19 of plate 6 until the rear edge of this bottom plate is reached. This occurs when the desired length of backward stroke of the carrier plate 4 has been accomplished whereupon the coin will have reached a point where it will be discharged downwardly across the rear edge of the frame plate 6 Which has been aifording a rest therefor during the rearward stroke of the slide bar. It will be observed that the lug 22 engages the coin at a point above the horizontal plane of the axis of said coin so that when the coin reaches the endof the supporting plate 6 upon which it rests during its movement the pressure of points 22 and 23 will serve to snap the coin downwardly so as to insure its discharge into the proper receptacle and its dislodgment from operating position between the slide bar and the carrier.

When the slide bar moves forwardly under the action of its spring a projection 29 at the rear end of said slide bar will come, after a certain lost motion, in contact with the rear end of the lug or projection 23 on the cigarette carrier 4 and thus this will be operated to its forward position. There is a certain amount of lost motion in the slide bar 17 in respect to the movement of the carrier 4 in order to insure the proper reception and proper discharge of the coin. As above stated, the apparatus may be made up of any desired number of units or compartments each unit or compartment being formed with side walls 2 and with the other parts and mechanism above described relating to the hoppers, the feed rollers, the cigarette carrier, the slide bars, and full stroke pawls. The Walls of these units may be held together in any suitable way as by the cross struts 30 and the bottom walls of the hopper also serve as connnections between these side walls. The units or compartmentsare individually removable. Each compartment is adapted to contain one of the packages of cigarettes bearing the revenue stamp and from which package the cigarettes are fed by simply opening the package at its rear end so that the cigarettes will dislodge from the package into the hopper above described. The side walls of the unit are adapted to enter notches 31 in flanges 32 of the fixed frame which flanges are received in notches 31a of the walls 2 and when all the units are in position they may be held locked to the fixed frame by the back plate 33 having flanges 34 to enter notches 35 in the side walls. This back plate has a shaft 36 journaled in suitable bearings 37 and there is fixedv to this shaft spring arms 38 adapted to be struck by projections or lugs 39 on the cigarette carrier plate each time that this plate completes its rearward movement. There is an arm for each of the carrier plates so that the shaft 36 will be operated once for each cigarette that is discharged from the machine no matter from which compartment or unit thereof. Shaft 36 is connected with a counting mechanism I by an arm 40 and'a rod 41, the counting mechanism being indicated generally at 42.

Reverting to the operation of the cigarette carriers 4, means are provided to exercise restraint thereon at a certain period of its rearward stroke this means consisting of a plate or lug 43 in the form of a cam on its upper surface inclining backwardly and upwardly. This cam is designed to cooperate with a leaf spring 44 fixed to the flange 34 of the fixed frame. When the carrier plate reaches a certain position in its rearward stroke the cam will engage the leaf spring and said leaf spring will thereupon exercise restraint upon the further rearward movement of the cigarette carr1er.

This leaf spring bears on the upper surface of the carrier normally and exerts its frictionalwrestraint thereon from the beginning of the movement rearwardly of said carrier. The cam mem ber 43 does not contact with the leaf spring until just before the slot in the carrier begins to mg ister with the portion or opening of the base plate 6 at which the cigarette is discharged therefrom whereupon increased frictional restraint is imposed on the carrier. The initial movement of the carrier under restraint of the leaf spring will prevent the carrier from becoming displaced whereas the additional frictional restraint imposed by the cam 43 and leaf spring will be suflicient to prevent unauthorized persons from robbing the machine of cigarettes by subjecting it to such jars or blows as would make, if the cam and detent were not used, the slot 7 register with the part of the base plate where the articles are discharged by jarring the carrier along the base.

Reverting to the lost motion or excess motion of the slide bar in respect to the cigarette carrier 4, it will be understood that this results in a long initial receiving space 25 for the coin, because when the slide bar is at the limit of its forward stroke its lug stands apart from the lug on the carrier a distance more than the diameter of the coin and when the slide bar is moved inwardly there will be some lost motion before the coin is gripped between the projection on the slide bar and the projection on the carrier. Conversely, after the backward stroke of the slide bar is accomplished and it begins to move forward there will be some lost motion of said slide bar before its projection 29 picks up the carrier and moves it forward. Thislost motion will cause the lug 22 on the slide bar to move away from the lug 23 on the carrier on this forward stroke and open up the space in which the coin is located so that if the coin tends to stick in this space the objection will be avoided by the lost motion action having the effect of enlarging or lengthening said space and thus insuring the release of the coin.

The carrier on its forward stroke is arrested by the pin 23a on the carrier coming against the edge 2a of the side wall 2 of the unit or compartment. The side wall is cut out between this edge 2a and the edge 2b and the pins 23a, 231), which hold the lug 23 spaced away from the side of the carrier 4 pass through the space left by the cutting out of the side wall at this point. The side wall fits between the side of the carrier and the lug 23.

The units made up of the sides 2, the cross bars and inclined hopper plates connecting them can be slid to and from position. At the rear the side walls interlock with the flanges of the fixed frame by the notched construction above described and these side walls interlock with the back of the cabinet when this is placed in position.

This back member is held to the main part of the casing in any suitable way.

The unit structure will enable the production of machines of various capacities by using more or less of the units. Furthermore, the removable unit construction enables repairs to be made or inspection or adjustments of the parts of one unit without disturbing any of the other units.

The removal of any unit will enable access to be had to all the parts associated therewith or their repair or replacement.

The money drawer 45 is locked by a bar 46 slidably guided with the casing and held in locked position by the cover 47 of the casing when this is closed. When the cover is open a spring 48 will raise the locking bar.

While I have disclosed mechanism which is the best now known to me for carrying out the principles involved in the invention it will be understood that I do not limit myself to the precise mechanism shown and described as modification may be made in the form and arrangement of the parts without departing from the spiirt of the invention the scope of which is defined by the appended claims.

The rolls agitate the cigarettes throughout the whole mass in the hopper. Those which are agitated or turned by direct contact with the rolls serve to agitate those with which they contact and so on throughout the whole number in the hopper so that any tendency for the cigarettes to hang orassume misplaced position will be obviated.

The grooves 19 may be omitted and the main frame plate made plain. 1

The part'which I have referred to as the hopper, in the foregoing description, is virtually a support for" the carton or package containing the cigarettes and in one aspect this carton itself constitutes a hopper because the cigarettes are held in bulk therein and are discharged therefrom and delivered to the customer. In any event, however, the machine embodies a holder for containing the cigarettes in bulk from which they are delivered to the customer one by one.

This application is the original of which a divisional application, Serial No. 557,681, has been filed.

I claim:

1. In a cigarette vending machine, a holder to contain the cigarettes, a roll at the lower part of the holder for engaging the cigarettes and for imparting movement thereto, whereby said cigarettes will be properly aligned relative to each other and to the discharge means, and means for discharging cigarettes from the holder. said roll having rotary movement imparted thereto for acting upon and arranging the cigarettes in proper relation for their discharge, said discharge means consisting of a plate reciprocating across the outlet opening of the holder, said roll resting on said plate and thereby deriving motion from said plate.

2. In a cigarette vending machine, a holder to contain the cigarettes, a roll at the lower part of the holder for engaging the cigarettes and for imparting movement thereto, whereby said cigarettes will be properly aligned relative to each other and to the discharge means, and means for discharging cigarettes from the holder, said roll having rotary movement imparted thereto for acting upon and arranging the cigarettes in proper relation for their discharge, said roll being mounted upon a frame pivotally mounted, said discharge means being in the form of a reciprocating member and said roll resting by gravity thereupon to be rotated thereby.

3. In a cigarette vending machine, a holder to contain the cigarettes, a roll at the lower part of the holder for engaging the cigarettes and for imparting movement thereto, whereby said cigarettes will be properly aligned relative to each other and to the discharge means, and means for discharging cigarettes from the holder, said roll having rotary movement imparted thereto for acting upon and arranging the cigarettes in proper relation for their discharge, said roll having movement up and down and serving to bear on and insure the discharge of the cigarette when the same reaches a position beneath said roll.

4. In combination in a cigarette vending machine, a holder, a slotted carrier, and a roll for gently agitating the cigarettes. in the holder, said roll resting upon the carrier and deriving its movement therefrom and being movably mounted to enter the slotand insure the discharge of the cigarette therefrom, substantially as described.

5. In a vending machine having a plurality of vending units, a frame provided with a plurality of spaced seats, at least one unit comprising upstanding spaced apart parallel walls mounted upon said frame, a cigarette hopper between and extending from one wall to the other, a cigarette carrier slidable upon said frame and guided by said walls, coin control means for actuating said carrier, a coin chute and a coin control support means mounted on the outer face of one of the walls for guiding said coin control means, said coin control means also registering with and being guided by one of the seats to space the units from each other a sufiicient distance for the coin control means and the coin chute, a spring acting upon the carrier to frictionally retard its movement, and a lug formed on the carrier to engage with the spring and increase the frictional resistance action on the carrier at the final portion of its movement to delivery position and before delivery of a cigarette. Y

6. In a vending machine comprising a plurality of contiguous vending units, a frame formed with a pluralityof guide seats, a unit independently mounted upon said frame whereby the unit may be detached'from the frame, said unit comprising its own cigarette holder, its own discharge means, its own coin control means and. coin chute, and upstanding spaced apart parallel walls for supporting the parts of the entire unit, said walls extending from the front to the back of the machine with the cigarette holder between and extending from one wall to the other, said coin control means registering with a guide seat in the frame to provide a support therefor and to position the unit from contiguous units. and provide a space for the coin control means and the coin chute, said discharge means of each unit consisting of a slidable carrier guided by and between the upstanding walls of the unit, and a coin slide guided on the outer side of oneof the walls of the unit and by the seat formed in the frame, substantially as described.

7. In a vending machine comprising a plurality of contiguous vending units, a frame formed with a plurality of guide seats, a unit independently mounted upon said frame whereby the unit may be detached from the frame, said unit comprising its own cigarette holder, its own discharge means, its own coin control means and coin chute, and upstanding spaced apart parallel walls for supporting the parts of the entire unit, said walls extending from the front to the back of the machine with the cigarette holder between and extending from one wall to the other, said coin control means registering with a guide seat in the frame to provide a support therefor and to position the unit from' contiguous units and provide a space for the coin control means and the coin chute, said units being slidably guided in the frame, and the apparatus including an outer casing having a rear wall which removably engages the units to lock the same in place.

JOEL S. MCCULLOUGH. 

